Five questions on global warming

28Aug.2016

Earth is warming up—and fast.

The average climate reported throughout the entire planet is called “Global Climate”. Scientists and all of us are very concerned because global climate is changing. The earth’s average temperature is rising – and faster that in any other period scientists have studied in earth’s history.

What’s “climate”?

“Climate” describes weather over a long period and in large regions.

Climate is the big picture of temperatures, rainfall, wind and other conditions over a larger region and a longer time than weather. For example, the weather describes a specific situation for example it was rainy in Phoenix, Arizona, last week. But rainfall in this city is only about 7 inches per year. So the climate for Arizona is dry. Much of Southern California and North Africa also have a dry, desert climate. Brazil and regions of Southeast Asia have a tropical climate, because it’s warm and rains there a lot.

Weather is local and temporary.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could control Earth’s temperature with a thermostat like at home? Not possible! The most we can do is predict what the weather will be like in the next few days. The scientists who study the weather are called meteorologists and they are the ones that try to foresee what is going to happen next. Will a storm over the ocean turn into a destructive hurricane? What about that giant cloud over London? Will it rain there or go to Dover before letting loose? Tornado conditions are just right, will any form? and where?

Weather events like snow, rain, wind, hail are local and temporary

Should we care if Earth is getting warmer?

Yes, after all, Earth is our spaceship.

It is a self-containing vessel that has all the air, water, and food we needand it carries us on a 938-million-kilometere cruise around the Sun every year, and not only! The earth has its own magnetic field that protects us from killer radiation and brutal solar wind.

We should consider ourselves like astronauts on a long space voyage, we have to check and control our “ship’s” vital functions and keep our Earth a healthy place to live in.

Does whatever we do matter much?

Yes! Everything that happens in one place affects something in another.

Earth has its own regulation system. The oceans, the land, the air, the plants and animals, and the energy from the Sun all work together in harmony. Changes in one place can affect things in another faraway place. The total effect is our global climate.

What is making Earth’s climate warmer?

Why is Earth getting warmer?

Human activity is one of the causes, scientists say.

How did they find that out? How could we be changing the global climate? How could it change so fast? What is going to happen to people, animals and plants if the earth gets warmer? Can we do anything to stop global warming or slow it down?